Improvement in apparatus for making vinegar and aging spirits



W. M. SKELTON.

Apparatus fnr Making Vinegar andAgeing Spirits.

Patented July 8,1873.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM M. SKELTON, OF GBEENOASTLE, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING VINEGAR AND AGING SPIRITS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 140,653, dated July 8, 1873; application filed March 22, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WM. M. SKELTON, of Greencastle, in the county of Putnam and State of Indiana, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Vinegar and Liquor Aerators; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, and t0 the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a plan view of my liquor-aerator. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of same. Fig. 3 is a view of the feeder.

This invention has relation to means for distributing liquor in order to bring it in contact with the air; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of devices constituting an aerating apparatus, the revolving feeding attachment being set in motion automatically or otherwise. The object of this invention is to facilitate the manufacture of vinegar and to ripen whisky, brandy, and other liquors.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates a post, which is to be placed upright in the generator or rectifier, a base-block, B, being attached to its lower end. (3 indicates a plate or board, usually of circular form, which is provided with a central opening, a, by means of which it is passed over the post A. D indicates the distributing device, consisting of a number of grooved bars, b, of various lengths, extending outward and downward from a central hub, c, which is centrally perforated for the purpose of placing it upon the upper end of the post A, which is shouldered at z to provide a rest therefor. The grooved bars I) are connected with the hub 0, usually by inserting their ends into a lateral annular groove, d, in said hub, and securing the same by slipping over the hub a keyring, e, which engages with key-seats h-or notches in the upper surfaces of the bars I). These bars are grooved in their upper surfaces, and

at their outward or lower ends are perforated through the bottom of the channel, as at v, for the attachment of strings I of yarn or other suitable material, which extend downward to the plate (J, and may be secured thereto by passing them through perforations s therein, and knotting their ends.

For the manufacture 'of vinegar these yarn strings are not needed, but are required in ripening whisky, brandy, or other spirituous liquors.

Upright in the top of the post A is fixed a needle, is, point upward. E represents the feeder. This consists of a cup, F, in the base of which is secured a cone,-m, preferably of glass. The needle-point sets up in this cone, and the cup is thereby suspended so that it can turn freely with very little friction. The discharging-spouts n a extend downward and outward from the bottom of the cup, and are bent in opposite directions at their lower ends a a.

In the application of the aerator the mash or liquor is placed in a convenient position above the generator or rectifier, and allowed to flow into the feeding-cup by means of a graduated tube or stop-cock. Theliquor passin gout at the lower or bent ends of the spouts causes the cup to revolve, so that the liquor is dropped on the grooved bars close to the center disk or hub, to which they are attached. The flow is divided and distributed by these grooved bars, and by the woolen strings when the latter are employed, so as to spread the liquor over a large extent of surface, elfecting a thorough aeration thereof.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the revolvingfeed er E, of the radially-channeled distributer D, substantially as specified.

2. The revolving feed-cup F, provided with the bent discharging-spouts u and the cone m, adapted to be suspended upon a needle-pivot, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM MARTIN SKELTON.

WVitnesses:

RICHARD BADE, I. S. SPURGIN. 

